Afro-Cuban Drummers at Unite Jazz Standard

Tracing the Course of Afro-Cuban Percussion Through the Veins of American Music

By

Larry Blumenfeld

July 8, 2013 8:50 p.m. ET

Growing up in Havana, drummer Calixto Oviedo studied classical music at a conservatory. He was entranced by various forms of Cuban music, especially the interplay of flute and violin in the celebrated group Orquesta Aragón. A fascination with American jazz soon followed.

"I was always pestering touring musicians to bring back cassettes of Miles Davis or Elvin Jones," he said in an interview. "I would stay up late to listen to an 11 p.m. jazz show on the radio." On Tuesday night, Mr. Oviedo will lead a...